What happens in the Amazon forests in Brazil
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro cynically blamed the Amazon fires, saying they used to call him a "saw" after calling for deforestation, before nicknamed him "Nero" for being behind the wildfires that devour the so-called "lung of the earth."
The Amazon rainforest is the largest rainforest and is a strategic carbon reservoir. Trees in the forests absorb billions of tons of carbon dioxide each year and produce oxygen, contributing significantly to slowing global warming.
It was called the Earth's Lung because it produces about 20% of oxygen.
Over the past few days, shocking images of the size of fires and images of dead and injured animals have spread, and the Brazilian National Space Research Institute said more than 72,000 fires have been recorded this year in the Amazon forest, up 83% from 2018, the highest since 2013.
The fires that can be seen from space, Brazil's space research agency, said it caused a power outage in Sao Paulo, one of Brazil's largest cities, on Monday.
"The intensity and frequency of drought has been linked to increased deforestation and human-induced climate change," the US space agency said in a statement.
Ricardo Mello, head of the Amazon World Program for the World Wide Fund for Nature, said the fires were the result of increased deforestation in the country.
Since Thursday, August 15, more than 9,500 fires have been recorded, a very high frequency.
By Tuesday, smoke from the Amazon fires had moved to Brazil's Atlantic coast, the World Meteorological Organization said. Forest fires in the Amazon are expected to continue in the coming months.
The Brazilian president said that NGOs may have been behind the fires in order to discredit his government after he decided to reduce the funding of those organizations, but gave no evidence.
He said in remarks quoted by the BBC "BBC" that everything indicates that NGOs go to the Amazon to set fire. When asked about the evidence, he said he had "no written plan ... that is not done in this way."
Bolsonaro has long questioned environmental concerns and wants to develop the Amazon. He told other countries that have expressed concern about forest erosion since he came to power that they should take care of their affairs.
Bolsonaro said his administration was working to control fires in the Amazon forest that hit a record this year.
According to the "BBC" fires often break out in the dry seasons, but they may be an effective act to use the areas resulting from the fire in grazing livestock.
Ricardo Melo, director of the Amazon program at the World Wide Fund for Nature, said the fires were triggered by a further decline in forest area.
Previous Brazilian governments have managed to reduce deforestation by imposing fines on violators, but President Bolsonaro and his ministers have criticized the sanctions.
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